Sunday, August 28, 2011

Letting Him Have It

Yes, I let my dad have it...I wasn't going to mention who it was but my family would know who I was talking about and I didn't want you to think it was Ken.  I never let Ken have it anymore.  He had it too many times...I'm still trying to make it up to him...

My dad is a beaver ~ a detail-oriented, perfectionist.  He was a pathologist.  He needed to be a detail-oriented perfectionist.  He was giving diagnosis of life and death to patients.  We need beavers!  Yet, he can get on your nerves some times.  He can go on and on about some things.  So I decided I had had enough and was going to give it to him.

I have a long fuse.  I rarely get angry.  Cassi told me just the other day that she appreciated that I was so consistently joyful.  She never had to wonder what my mood would be when she came home.  My dad always told me I had the longest fuse in the family. 

I felt justified, however, giving it to him this time.  He needed to hear my thoughts.  Cassi came down later that morning and asked if I was okay.   She heard me raise my voice and get angry.  I told her what had happened.  I didn't feel too good about it...

Later on, I called him and he said he was sick.  Oh no, I thought, what if something was really wrong with him. I should have told him I was sorry right then, but I didn't.  Ken told me I needed to apologize.  I agreed.  I said I would do it tomorrow...

In the morning, I heard he had to go to the ER during the night and was in the hospital.  Wouldn't it be awful to have your last conversation with someone be in anger and letting him have it?

When I saw him laying in his hospital bed, the first thing I said was, "I am sorry!  Please forgive me.  I should have never talked to you that way."  He smiled and told me he loved me and it was fine.  He forgives easily and never holds grudges.

He told me where the key was to the safe to get his last will and testament (?) and if he needs to go on life support, pull the plug after three days.  We were just joking about all this, but you never know when a loved one could go.

Lesson learned ~ Don't ever give people a piece of your mind...It doesn't help and you feel awful afterwards.  Be gentle, kind, and loving to everyone, even those who get on your nerves.  That is what real love looks like.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:32

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  I Corinthians 13:4,5

Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:  For the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God.  James 1:19,20

Hide It In Your Heart